Blogeinträge (Tag-sortiert)

Tag: Sweets

[The Secret Recipe Club] - Lime Squares (glutenfree)

Cooking has gotten quite boring around here lately, you know.
There haven been a lot of easy and quick quite ordinary meals been thrown together in my kitchen, not at all worth of blogging - life ha got me in it's claws and I do not seem to enjoy cooking at home much the past few weeks. So this little blog has been abandoned a lot. That's why I am happy that my fellow bloggers of SRC force me to blow away the dust bunnies at least once a month...

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I liked to browse through my assigned blog The Saturday Evening Pot a lot and found some nice gems that gave me some new ideas. I quite quickly settled on the recipe to be for this month when I saw those lovely lime squares on the blog. One reason is that I really really love limes. The subtle tangy taste just goes so well for me with lots of sweets! Another reason was that it was quite quick to assemble and bake in less than an hour which was perfect for my busy timetable this month.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping: Gently whisk eggs in medium sized bowl until lightly mixed. Add the remaining topping ingredients and continue to whisk gently until they are blended.

Pour the topping evenly over cooled base. Bake until top is set and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Sprinkle surface with confectioner sugar (a light dusting) and cut into squares with a sharp knife, that is dipped in hot water and wiped dry before each cut.

If you plan to keep longer than one day, keep in air tight container and refrigerate or freeze to preserve crispness of base. Makes 9 to 12 bars.

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This rocks I tell ya! I loved it best when it came right out of the oven and still was warm but its also great chilled with some cream. The subtle taste of lime goes so well with the creamy consistency of the topping while the rather crunchy base adds a nice contrast.
Go ahaead - give it a try! ;o)

As you already know by now, there are four groups of lovely bloggers who visit each others assigned blogs keeping it a secret from one another until the big reveal day.

For me there are two exciting moments: First one when I get the email of my assigned blog and second one when I see who was assigned to me and what recipe(s) they made and what they think about my blog in general.

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Hold your breath for the following reveal days:

Group A - March 4
Group B - March 11
Group C - March 18
Group D - March 25

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How this all works?well, just click on that logo on the left and you will get to a whole wonderful website that will answer all your questions and more!

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Why I joined?Because I think it is a fun way to discover new blogs and step outta my comfort zone a bit by being assigned an unknown blog and having to find a recipe that suits me and tempts me to cook myself.

[The Secret Recipe Club] - Irish Tea Cake(s)

"Cream butter and sugar, add some eggs. Beat until everything is creamy white and fluffy.A hint of vanilla is coming in right and a little cup of milk.Now for the finish of it add some flour made of oats and spelt. Some baking aid will be your little help.Whipped up in a whiz, now poured in a baking dish:
off into the warm oven it goes, soon lovely smells will tickle your nose!Out of the oven, fluffy and sweet.
Have it with your tea and you will eat and eat and eat!"

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These little lovely Irish Tea Cakes I made after a recipe from my assigned blog "Cookin Mimi" are so delicious I just cant tell you how quick they were gone once out of the oven and cooled slightly!

I only made two little changes to her recipe: I used a mix of finely ground oatmeal and white spelt flour for the batter and baked them in little muffin tins for easier serving rather than in one large baking tin.

I can tell you, you would want to bake them as well if you had a chance to take a little sniff when these little cakes came out of the oven or a single bite when we had them for afternoon tea... Go ahead and make them you will love it and they are made in no time :o)

As you already know by now, there are four groups of lovely bloggers who visit each others assigned blogs keeping it a secret from one another until the big reveal day.

For me there are two exciting moments: First one when I get the email of my assigned blog and second one when I see who was assigned to me and what recipe(s) they made and what they think about my blog in general.

_

Hold your breath for the following reveal days:

Group A - February 4
Group B - February 11
Group C - February 18
Group D - February 25

_

How this all works? well, just click on that logo on the left and you will get to a whole wonderful website that will answer all your questions and more!

_

Why I joined? Because I think it is a fun way to discover new blogs and step outta my comfort zone a bit by being assigned an unknown blog
and having to find a recipe that suits me and tempts me to cook myself.

[The Secret Recipe Club] - Apple Dumplings, the best I ever made...

As you already know by now, there are four groups of lovely bloggers who visit each other's assigned blogs keeping it a secret from one another until the big reveal day.

For me there are two exciting moments: First one when I get the email of my assigned blog and second one when I see who was assigned to me and what recipe(s) they made and what they think about my blog in general.

_

Hold your breath for the following reveal days:

Group A - October 8
Group B - October 15
Group C - October 22
Group D - October 29

_

How this all works? well, just click on that logo on the left and you will get to a whole wonderful website that will answer all your questions and more!

_

Why I joined? Because I think it is a fun way to discover new blogs and - again - step outta my comfort zone a bit by being assigned an unknown blog and having to find a recipe that suits me and tempts me to cook myself.

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My assigned blogger for this month was Lisa of "Cook Lisa Cook". Honestly I fell in love with her blog, there were a lit of recipes I marked for later cooking or baking and it was hard to narrow it down to the recipe I actually wanted to make for the SRC reveal day.

The are so lovely: with few ingredients you can whip up a nice Sunday Dessert in just minutes.
We love apples here. It's a love I share with my Mum whose most favorite sweet thing is a homemade apple strudel. I was very curious of how Lisa's recipe would taste. There were some minor changes in the recipe, mostly due to limitations of my pantry: we do not have frozen apple juice concentrate here so I just finely grated some apples and added a pinch of sugar, let it sit for a few minutes to give the juice time to come out ;o)
I also used fresh apple juice instead of the water and didn't have any nuts on hand (silly me forgot to check and realized the were all gone when I as in the middle of baking) so I just crumbled some Italian nut cookies on top of all.
I also used a home made dough for the wrapping of the apples I first made with my fellow BBB Babes, I always have some of this in the freezer.

[The Secret Recipe Club] - Oatmeal & Cranberry Muffins

As you already know by now, there are four groups of lovely bloggers who visit each others assigned blogs keeping it a secret from one another until the big reveal day.

For me there are two exciting moments: First one when I get the email of my assigned blog and second one when I see who was assigned to me and what recipe(s) they made and what they think about my blog in general.

_

Hold your breath for the following reveal days:

Group A - September 3
Group B - September 10
Group C - September 17
Group D - September 24

_

How this all works? well, just click on that logo on the left and you will get to a whole wonderful website that will answer all your questions and more!

_

Why I joined? Because I think it is a fun way to discover new blogs and step outta my comfort zone a bit by being assigned an unknown blog and having to find a recipe that suits me and tempts me to cook myself.

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My assigned blogger for this month was Trisha and her blog "My Hobbie Lobbie", a lovely blog with lots of nice recipes. I loved scrolling through her recipes and found me some nice yummies I put on my baking/cooking shortlist. I was looking for something nice and not too overly sweet to bake for breakfast at work and found those lovely WW, oatmeal and raisin muffins. They turned out great and I loved them.

I only omitted the rasins cause I really dislike them and used brown sugar instead of a combination of white and packed brown sugar, otherwise I followed her recipe quite closely. The muffins turned out to be a hit. Nice and fluffy and really really tasty. Only downside: they did not last very long and were gone in no time... ;o)

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Wholewheat, Oatmeal and Cranberry Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tbsp wheat bran

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cup oats

1/3 cup chopped, pitted dates

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup boiling water

In a large mixing bowl place the wheat flour, sugars, bran, baking soda and salt and stir together. Stir in the oats, dates and cranberries.

In a seperate bowl, mix the buttermilk, oil, vanilla and egg.Make a well in the flour mix and pour the wet ingredients in, stirring till just moist.

Stir in the boiling water. Let the batter stand for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Brush the muffin tins with a little oil, butter or some cooking spray. Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and bake for 15-20 minutes or till muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center.

[The Secret Recipe Club] - Marbled Loaf Cake - cupcakesized!

As you already know by now, there are four groups of lovely bloggers who visit each other's assigned blogs keeping it a secret from one another until the big reveal day.

For me there are two exciting moments: First one when I get the email of my assigned blog and second one when I see who was assigned to me and what recipe(s) they made and what they think about my blog in general.

_

Hold your breath for the following reveal days in June:

Group A - June 4
Group B - June 11
Group C - June 18
Group D - June 25

_

How this all works? well, just click on that logo on the left and you will get to a whole wonderful website that will answer all your questions and more!

_

Why I joined? Because I think it is a fun way to discover new blogs and - again - step outta my comfort zone a bit by being assigned an unknown blog and having to find a recipe that suits me and tempts me to cook myself.

This time I was assigned to Katrina's blog "Baking & Boys" and loved that blog immediately when I first landed there! You can click through so many lovely baked sweet things.... one more adorable and yummy looking than the other. I spent hours trying to decide which recipe I should choose at "the one".

Eventually I marked them down to 8 recipes and found that her "Marbled Loaf Cake - muffinsized" where just perfect to bake and bring then along to work. It was a recipe she made for the TWD Challenge - so the original is based on a recipe by Dorie Greenspan (page 230 of Dorie Greenspan's BAKING from My Home to Yours). She did some lovely tweaks here and there, you can read the whole post here.

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I followed he tweaks and got some lovely and yummy marbles cupcakes :) - the only thing I changed was a dollop of greek yoghurt on top of each cupcake before baking, since I had some yoghurt left and figured it might give an extra "zing" to those Lovelies! ...and so very right was I! I loved them and Sweetheart, who is a sweet tooth anyway loved them too!

Valentine's Day

When January waves his Goodbyes and February approaches our doorsteps one of my least favorite time of the year begins. With every day that passes, our world seems to get more pink and artificially "love-scented". When you see all these heart shaped consume goods around you, when blogs begin to overflow with Valentine's menus and sweet chocolaty treats I start to crank deep inside me.

Good Grief, people!
Do you really need a DAY marked in your calenders to tell you you should be nice to your Loved Ones? What about the remaining 365 day of this year?

Love and Happiness are the only things that grow bigger when shared!!

So why limit it to a few "special" days of a year?

Go hug your Loved Ones whenever you have a chance to(it might be the last you have, by the way!)! Spread your love. Fill your life and those of others with happiness, every day!

No, I am not trying to revive this mindblown state of mind of the late 1968 Love, Peace and Happiness thingy.

Honestly:
I'd rather call my Mom and tell her "Hey, I've just been thinking of you and wanted to tell you: I love you!" - any other day in the year than do that on V-Day or Mother's Day or any other of these "Days". Actually I did this yesterday morning and we had a real nice chat.

I'd rather have my Sweetheart bring home my most favorite "choc drink", we could not find when we were grocery shopping together, without me even knowing he was out getting them, than bringing me some flowers for V-Day. Because it makes me smile that he thinks of me when he is out and about without me.
I'd rather send him a text saying "I miss you" when we've just parted because that's the way I feel and I know it will make him smile on his way home.

Me and my family - we have long ago stopped to save up presents for Birthdays and other occasions. We'd rather go and buy something we know that the person in question is longing for and tag it with "you know this is for your Birthday (or Christmas,...)" winking and knowing that this makes him/her happy right at that moment.

When I was home for Christmas this year, me and my brother visited my Grandma for an afternoon coffee and chat. We learned that she accidentally threw away an essential part of her coffee machine. Even after an extended search it was nowhere to be found. The coffee machine was too old to buy a replacement for that piece and she has been talking that she wanted a new one for a long time anyway. So when she sent us to get a new coffee machine and even gave us her purse to buy it, we decided to just give it to her as an early Birthday present (her Birthday is in August). A few weeks later she called me that she'd just made her afternoon coffee and now whenever she does that she is thinking of my and my brother. This made my day brighter and I am sure hers too.

Thinking of that, the best present to her not even was that she got a new coffee machine but that we took the time to come visit her AND that we went out to get her a new one when she needed it!

Time - yes, I truly think that in our hectic and commercialized world the best gifts are things money can't buy: time, hugs, smiles and the feeling that you are loved by your family and friends.

I think one of the best Birthday presents ever was when Mrs Q. took me out to a lovely little bakery telling me "I just knew you would love it here" - and the only thing we did was sitting there and enjoying breakfast together giggling and chatting away. Now it has become some sort of tradition between the two of us to spent a day at this bakery together once a year (our Birthdays are only 2 weeks apart form each other).

So although today is Valentine's Day - this will not have much effect on how this day goes by in my world.

I prefer to hug and make my Loved Ones smile whenever I have a chance to. Today I hope Sweetheart will smile about this sweet little treat I made to enjoy with our "after work, welcome home" coffee in the evening. But *pssst* don't you tell him!

Heavenly Chocolate Tarte

100 grams of your favorite dark chocolate (I still wonder if I could do this with Sweethearts favorite white chocolate but had non on hand today)125 grams butter at room temp
110 grams caster sugar (I used my vanilla scented caster sugar)
3 big eggs
1 TBS corn starch
I also sneaked in 2 TBS of my best Irish Whiskey!

And then everything goes so easy and quick but ends up in such heavenly deliciousness!

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain marie over low heat. Then add the caster sugar and stir until dissolved.

Remove pan from oven.

Now add one egg at a time beating it in carefully with a wooden spoon, slowly and gradually. The mixture will become thicker and gain a pudding like texture, it will even get a little shiny on the surface.

Right at the end add 1 TBS corn starch.

Butter your cake tin (18 cm) or smaller baking tins if you prefer.

Fill it with cake batter and bake in not preheated oven at 180°C until surface crackles.

You will want to aim for the moment where the center of the cake is no longer runny but barely baked.

After baking loosen cake from the sides of your baking tin. Let cool for a few minutes and remove from baking tin.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar right before serving.

I've made these today in under one hour!

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The best thing about this little cake is that, though you'll only have a few bites until it's gone, it so different with every bite you make. The outside parts are more crunchy, almost like a nice cookie. But when you move further near the inner part it gets fudgy, moist and velvety almost like a melting chocolate cloud in your mouth. I love it!

The Secret Recipe Club has undergone some changes most of them under the hood but still... and while we paused in January we are back in February with the first of our "reveal days" where all of us participants of group A will reveal which blog we have been assigned to and what we found most interesting to bake or cook...

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Hold your breath for the following reveal days in Feb:

Group A - February 6
Group B - February 13
Group C - February 20
Group D - February 27

_

How this all works? well, just click on that logo on the left and you will get to a whole wonderful website that will answer all your questions and more!

_

Why I joined? Because I think it is a fun way to discover new blogs and - again - step outta my comfort zone a bit by being assigned an unknown blog and having to find a recipe that suits me and tempts me to cook myself.

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This month I was assigned to Tessa's blog called "The Cookin' Chemist" where she says: "I've always thought that the only difference between chemistry and cooking is that cooking allows you to savor the result". I loved strollling through her blog and reading through her lovely recipes. I was hard to narrow down and decide which recipe to chose for the SRC. Finally I decided on something sweet because I fell in love with her Butterscotch Brownies and this lovely salted caramel ice cream.

Place milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat to 180 degrees (check temperature with a candy thermometer) or until tiny bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Do not boil.

Meanwhile, place egg yolks in a large bowl and stir with a whisk. Once the milk reaches the correct temperature, gradually add half of the hot milk to the yolks, stirring constantly to temper. Add the rest of the milk mixture and stir to combine. Return the milk-yolk mixture to the saucepan.

In a separate large saucepan, combine sugar, cream, and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar melts. Cook 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the Kosher salt.

Gradually and carefully add the caramel mixture to the yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Return pan to low heat and cook until a thermometer registers 160 degrees. Pour the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer into a bowl set over a larger ice-filled bowl until completely cooled, stirring occasionally.

Refrigerate overnight.

Pour the mixture into the freezer bucket of an ice-cream freezer. Freeze according to package directions. The ice cream will emerge in soft-serve consistency. Freeze in a resealable container for a firmer consistency or for storage of any leftovers.

To serve, sprinkle each serving with flake salt if desired.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="332" caption="Kashim made sure everything was nice arranged for the photoshoot, it's always good to have a kitty who helps in the kitchen..."][/caption]